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Biden administration announces plan to replace 100% of lead pipes in US homes
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a "whole of government strategy" to remove dangerous lead from Americans' drinking water, including billions of dollars to begin replacing 100% of the lead pipes servicing the nation's homes.
Environmental groups praised the plan, which includes a promise to begin the process of strengthening the nation's drinking water standards to reflect the science showing that lead is toxic for children at any level.
But lawyers at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has been leading efforts to fight lead, said they worry that the plan lacks a solid timeline and fails to deliver enforceable requirements.
The set of actions announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) included the release of the first $2.9bn of $15bn approved in Biden's infrastructure plan for local water agencies to begin replacing lead pipes and called for the efforts to focus on the low-income communities who face the most risk of lead poisoning. It also listed 15 new actions across 10 federal agencies to address lead dangers from both water and paint.
(Score: 4, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Saturday December 18 2021, @05:29AM (2 children)
Lead is such an exasperating problem. Is it so costly to avoid lead? NO! One way is to use bismuth brass. Do we doubt that lead is unhealthy? NO! The Romans actually figured that out, but kept using it. And here we are, in America 2000 years later, still using lead. Why? To save a few cents up front, careless of the costs down the road. Manufacturers' tooling lasts longer because the lead makes the brass softer. Hell of a reason to poison everyone. The costs are far greater than the savings. Lead poisoning makes people stupider and more violent. The Europeans are smarter.
The Romans used lead all over the place, not just in plumbing. They lined their pots with lead based glaze. The upper class even sprinkled lead salts in their wine, to sweeten it.
Brass can be up to 8% lead. In 2014, standards were tightened greatly, reducing the maximum allowed lead content of brass to 0.25%. But, there's a huge loophole. The new standard only applies to faucets for "drinking water". Only the kitchen and bathroom sinks are covered. Bathtubs, showers, and exterior faucets are NOT. When we needed a new bathtub faucet, I tried to find one that conformed to the new 0.25% standard. There were none. I called a dozen manufacturers, and none of them, not even the luxury ones, offered a low lead bathtub faucet. I thought that since they had to do it for sinks, it would be no big deal to offer the same for tubs, for customers who wanted that.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Saturday December 18 2021, @07:17AM
I haven't searched online, but I'd guess CA would have tighter standards, or Canada (CSA), maybe get one that's approved there?
Is RoHS used to qualify plumbing?
How about stainless steel parts?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 18 2021, @12:46PM